Blue Eye, Ponant underwater lounge revealed

Details of the worlds first underwater lounge on a cruise liner have been revealed today by luxury small ship operator Ponant. The Ponant underwater lounge will be called Blue Eye and feature two giant portholes beneath the waves.

French-owned Ponant, renowned for it’s pioneering spirit, will install the remarkable subaquatic lounges on each of their four new 92-cabin Explorer class ships. Le Lapérouse, currently under construction, will be the first cruise ship on Earth to be equipped with one of these new multi-sensory underwater spaces. It will be located within the hull and below the water line.

Portholes beneath the waves on Le Lapérouse.

The giant portholes in the Blue Eye Ponant underwater lounge are shaped like the eye of a cetacean and will look directly out below the waves. Ponant tell us they will enable guests to observe the fauna and flora of this sub-aquatic universe, particularly when these small ships manoeuvre close to shore.

There will also be integrated digital screens in the Blue Lounge which will project images filmed by three live underwater cameras placed at strategic points around the ship. These cameras will enable guests to see natural spectacles like dolphins playing in the bow waves.

Guests can also plug into the sound of the underwater world too thanks to hydrophones, developed in consultation with specialists from the French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER), that will be integrated beneath the keel.

Sounds from up to 5-kilometres away will be transmitted live to the Blue Eye lounge’s unique Body Listening sofas that not only allow guests to hear, but also feel the symphony of life below the waves.

The first two Ponant Explorers to feature the Blue Eye lounge, Le Lapérouse and sister-ship Le Champlain, will be operational from mid-2018.

Construction of the remaining two Ponant Explorers is now also underway with the cutting of the first steel for Le Bougainville and Le Dumont-d’Urville. These are both due to be delivered in 2019.